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West Africa

Context of this area

A large majority of people in West Africa live below the poverty and use wood as their main energy source. The region, which is subject to a very dry climate, is seriously threatened by the impact of climate change. In this context, GERES has decided to apply its specialist expertise in three fields of activity: access to rural energy in the interests of economic development, improving the efficiency of cooking methods, and supporting local authorities to take account of vulnerabilities related to climate change. On top of this comes support to entrepreneurship, a cross-cutting aspect of all our programmes.

GERES in West Africa

The rural areas of Benin are diversifying their activities on the basis of considerable entrepreneurial dynamism. However, this process is seriously hindered by the lack of access to energy. Solutions to provide access to a sustainable, reliable energy source need to be identified and adapted. This is the purpose of the work carried out by the GERES Benin team, combining technical solutions and support to entrepreneurship

In Mali, GERES is working to improve cooking efficiency in urban areas with a view to economic, health and environmental impacts. The team based in Koutiala is working in the rural areas on the problems of access to energy in the interests of local economic development.

In Senegal, the extreme variability of the climate affects communities’ livelihoods. Since 2012, GERES has been supporting the Ferlo Interregional Alliance to assist them in preparing a Territorial Climate Plan.